Don's Devotionals: Learning to love God

Psalm 95:1-3  Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.  ² Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.  ³ For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods.

What reality do these verses have in our lives right now?  Do they describe a vibrant inner excitement regarding the relationship we have with our God?  Or, are they words that we acknowledge as true, but they are just that – words?  Is there a ‘flatness’ in our experience of reading them that is more like a soda that has been opened and the fizz is gone?

Think of eating a meal where no seasonings have been used in the preparation of the food.  The food is bland to the taste, and while still nourishing, the enjoyment of it is not there.  With each bite we are thinking that it is not what it could be – or should be.  Our lives can become like that.

Are our days ‘flat’ as well?  Are we so caught up in busy-ness that we don’t savor or even see the wonder of the blessings we have in our lives.  Think of the special ones that you work with or are friends with.  Is there closeness with family members? I try to talk to my sons each week.  What joy there is in hearing their voices!

Every day I get to see my Donna.  I get to hear her voice; see her smile; and feel her touch.  Just to be near her is beyond words.  The blessing I receive when these devotionals touch those reading them.  The thrill never diminishes.  Yet all of these things pale in comparison to the daily wonder available to us in the relationship we have with our God.  He has given us the Scriptures to reveal Him and to lead us to Him – to daily guide our steps.  Finding Jesus is just the start of the adventure!

We get to serve Him with all our heart.  He will enable us to weep for joy and gratitude because of His love for us.  He draws us to learn to seek His face.  He teaches us to love Him with all our heart.  We can get so caught up in other things that we lose sight of the fact that loving and worshipping Him is the pinnacle!  Out of that will flow everything else.  Our hearts will be tender, our spirits will be responsive to Him and our lives will be an obedient walk with Him.  Our lives will be filled with the vibrant excitement that comes from knowing Him.

Exodus 5:22, 23 Moses returned to the LORD and said, “O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me?  Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.”

Moses experienced the miraculous wonder of the burning bush and the encounter with God.  He and Aaron came to Egypt and met with the Elders of the Israelites and performed the wonders he was to show them.  The people were blessed knowing that God was responding to their plight.

But then came the meeting with Pharaoh and Pharaoh was not convinced in the slightest.  Pharaoh’s response was to make everything worse.  So much so, the Israelite foremen met with Pharaoh to appeal for relief.  Their concern grew when it was rejected by him.  They encountered Moses and Aaron waiting to meet them and declared how they (Moses and Aaron) had made them a stench to Pharaoh.

This is not what Moses expected to happen.  Things didn’t get better – they went from bad to worse.  Yet this was God’s plan.  He just didn’t tell Moses that it was going to unfold quite like this.  Moses knew that God was going to harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he wouldn’t let the people go.  But Moses didn’t expect Pharaoh to make the situation worse.  Nor did he expect the Israelites to blame him.  God’s response to Moses’ concern was, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh…”

The principle at work here happens over and over throughout Scripture and in our lives.  God calls us to a mission or task and gives us an idea what ultimately will happen.  But as we obey, God allows all manner of unexpected difficulties to rise up.  He expects us to respond with faith and look to Him.  It is through this process that we are changed and God’s plan is accomplished.  It just doesn’t happen the way we thought it would.

Daniel 3:16-18  Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. ¹⁷ If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. ¹⁸ But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

These three young men provide a sterling example of faith and trust in the face of death.  Note that these young men did not say, “Our God is able to keep us from being thrown into the blazing furnace.”  They did not say that He would keep them from the trial.  They believed he would rescue them if they were thrown into the furnace – and He did.  BUT, what they went on to say is priceless because their faith was not predicated on God rescuing them.

They declared, “But even if He does not (rescue us),…we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold…” They chose to be faithful to their God – even if it cost their lives.

Many of us have faced or are currently facing trials or situations that range from serious to seemingly insurmountable including the coronavirus.  What has been – or is our response?  How is it actually expressing our faith in God?  Might someone conclude from observing our response that we feel abandoned or betrayed by our God?  Or might they conclude that our response simply doesn’t reflect any faith in Him.

In the face of death, they proclaimed they would be faithful to their God.  Think about this in the “fiery” trials that we face. We can communicate this same truth.  In the midst of difficult situations we can declare, “Our God is able to heal, provide, deliver, rescue, answer, communicate, set free …..BUT EVEN IF HE DOESN’T, we are not going to murmur or grumble or complain.”  No matter what happens, we are going to stand with Him.

It is so important to remember that in every test we find ourselves, we have the opportunity to faithfully respond in a way that honors and glorifies Him.

Ruth 1:20, 21 “Don’t call me Naomi, “she told them.” Call me Mara, (bitter) because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. ²¹ I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The LORD has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.”

The story of Ruth is also the story of Naomi.  Naomi and her family moved from Bethlehem to Moab due to famine.  While there her husband died and her 2 sons married Moabite women.  Then her two sons died and Naomi returned to Bethlehem with only her daughter-in-law Ruth, who refused to be separated from her.  Although she had Ruth, her focus was on what she lost.

We go though difficulties and misfortunes as well.  Losses, hurts, disappointments are part of life.  They are not separate from our faith, but God is always in the midst of them.  We can respond in faith and trust Him – or be focused on our circumstances and view God negatively.  Even when we don’t understand, He is faithful and He is with us as we go through the trials.

Sometimes we are able to see the good that comes out of our struggles – sometimes not.  But the Lord is always with us and always for us.  He is actively at work in us to bring forth His character and to bring about His plan.   Remember the marvelous joy we experience when we are tested and come through it faithfully.

Little did Naomi realize that God was using her in a marvelous way – to accomplish His plan of bringing Ruth to Boaz.  How different her response at that time might have been if she was aware that her losses and difficulties were essential for God’s plan to unfold. Not only was Naomi to be provided for abundantly, but she cared for the child born to Ruth and Boaz who was named Obed.  He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

Proverbs 9:10b  and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding

Why is this happening?  Why did that happen?  How could that happen?  I don’t understand!

How often are these expressions in our minds, on our lips and evidence of a storm raging within us?  They reflect a cry for understanding – and given our culture, we have developed an inordinate requirement to have understanding.  Something has happened or is happening that we don’t understand.  Frequently, it involves significant difficulties or tragedies that occur.

Currently we have a world filled with a growing amount of strife, wars, Ukraine/Russia and corona.  Gas prices, inflation, illegal immigration, earthquakes and tornadoes. The rioting, killing and rebellion that is going on throughout the world, Christians, their churches and God’s truth being targeted for extermination.

These are on top of the day to day difficulties of losing jobs, unexpected tragedies and dealing with things that the enemy of our souls is so quick to strike us with the question, “How could a god of love allow that?”  We find ourselves buffeted by the storms raging around us and the inner difficulties that stem from our inability to understand it, let alone explain it. 

This is where knowledge of our God is so critical.  The more we know of Him, the more readily we experience the shelter and source of strength that He is to us.  The more we know of Him, the more embedded within us is the response to turn to Him like a compass pointing ‘North’.

The way we increase our knowledge of Him is by walking in His ways.  The more we do, the greater is our desire and opportunity to learn of Him.  Because of His Spirit working within us, our knowledge and understanding of Him go through a marvelous transformation as our eyes see more and more of the Glory of who He is and what we have in Him.  He gives us peace in the midst of the storms.  Jesus referred to this as having our house built upon the Rock!

Ephesians 5:10  and find out what pleases the Lord.

There are 7 words in this verse and they present a thought and a command that is important beyond measure.  I’m embarrassed by the number of times I’ve read the book of Ephesians without noticing this verse.  I think it tends to get overlooked because the verses surrounding it are so significant.

The verses immediately preceding it deal with being children of light and what that entails.  The verses following it instruct us to have nothing to do with fruitless deeds of darkness.  These are major ideas of instruction (commands) for us.  But between them lies this life-giving gem for anyone with eyes to see or ears to hear.

Who is the focus of our lives as Christians?  Why do we do the things that we do?  What is the nature of our motivation?  What are we trying to accomplish?  Who is the love of our life?  What is important to Him?  What opportunities does He give us that are beyond counting?  This verse supplies the key.

We have the incredible opportunity to please Him by what we do – to bring pleasure to our God.  This opportunity doesn’t occur just once, or once in awhile – but innumerable times every day.  His Word and His Spirit will guide us to discover those things that please Him.  It’s not about earning salvation or earning anything.  It’s not about us – but about Him, the one we love and belong to.  It’s not about avoiding punishment or judgment but about blessing Him.  It’s living for Him.

Think of the pleasure you experience when someone does something important to bless you just because of his or her love for you and not wanting anything in return.  By finding out what pleases the Lord – and doing it – we can bring pleasure to our God each and every day of our lives

Matthew 6:1 “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

President Reagan had this wonderful plaque on his desk: “There is no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he doesn’t mind who gets the credit.”  The receiving of credit is a very important part of our culture.  It’s like earning grades in school.  We grow up expecting our efforts to be recognized.  Early in my sales career I experienced the disappointment of not being recognized.  The top salesperson was publically recognized each month, except they forgot to do it the first month I finished on top.

One aspect of this is the negative response most of us have when credit is given to someone where it isn’t deserved, i.e., someone has been cheating and then getting recognized for excelling.  Or in the workplace, to see someone recognized when someone else was primarily responsible.  What do we do if we are the ones who receive credit for that which is done by someone else?  Do we speak up and re-direct the credit where it belongs?

More importantly, are the good things we do linked to a desire to receive recognition?  Are we at peace with knowing that the Lord knows what we do?  Jesus warns us here of the problem of doing the right things we are supposed to do, but with an eye to receiving credit for them – to be seen by men.  The issue to me isn’t the idea that we lose the reward from our Heavenly Father, but the fact that our motivation is tainted by this desire to have our efforts seen.  It is bad for us and displeasing to Him.

The Lord wants our motivations to be centered in the joy of pleasing Him.  Living our lives in accord with Scripture and the leading of the Holy Spirit brings the joy of knowing that every action is an expression of our love for God.  Instead of the need to ‘be seen by men’, we live our lives to bring glory and praise to our God.   Matthew 5:16 speaks powerfully to this, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”  That is the motivation that we want to fill our hearts!

Proverbs 20:12  Ears that hear and eyes that see— the LORD has made them both.

Opportunities – they surround us each and every day.  How many righteous opportunities do we miss because we don’t perceive them?  How many unrighteous ones do we walk into because we don’t perceive their nature either?  Today, let’s focus on the righteous opportunities that are there around us.

When our two oldest sons were little we lived in Wheaton, IL.  Nearby was Morton Arboretum.  We loved to take John & Jamie for hikes there.  In the spring of one year something important occurred.  We were walking through the woods and I asked them what colors did they see?  They answered, “Brown, black, gray.”  I said to look closer and got the same answer of, “Brown, black, gray.”  They just saw soil, leaves covering the ground, tree trunks and tree limbs without leaves – all brown, black and gray.

Then I pointed to a tree and said to look beneath it.  When they started to answer, “Brown”, I said, to look closer – in the leaves to the left of the tree.  All of a sudden they shouted, “Oh, there’s green!”  I pointed to another area and they shouted, “There’s pink!  Blue!  White!”

They began to see the spring flowers in bloom all around us.  They just hadn’t seen the colorful flowers before because they were distracted by the dominant brown, black and gray.  Their eyes were opened, by being trained in what to look for.

We likewise have to train our spiritual eyes and ears to recognize many of the opportunities that the Lord puts in our path.  We can miss so much “color” because of the brown, black and gray of life.  But with the Holy Spirit’s help, we can see and embrace many more of the beautiful and colorful opportunities that are all around us.  Ask Him to train your eyes and ears to perceive them, and He will.

Psalm 130:6  My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.

About 23 years ago, in our Sunday service, a song based on this verse was being sung.  The words of the song were describing a passionate longing for the Lord that I didn’t have.  In the distress of this realization, I went forward in the midst of it being sung and spoke to our rector who was leading worship.  I told him, “I can’t sing this song because it doesn’t describe me.”  When the song ended, I was so blessed by his words of wisdom.  He commented, “When we sing songs that don’t describe us, let the song be a prayer that you are asking to become true of you.”

God used this experience to create within me the desire to become passionate for Him – with a passion that was palpable.  I began searching for verses in the Psalms that communicated passion to me – and I found many of them.  Another verse that particularly struck me was Psalm 42:1, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.”  I wanted to have my soul pant for the Lord.  These verses then became the focus of my “Lord make this me” prayers.

My passion-meter or “passiometer” as I have referred to it, was not budging at all when this began.  No passion was being reflected within me as I read and prayed the passion verses that I wanted to become true of me.  Week after week; month after month; year after year, I prayed these verses throughout the Psalms.

As time went by, I was thrilled by the realization that the Lord was doing it.  He caused passion to grow within me so that I could honestly say that these verses were now describing me. I hadn’t “arrived” but my “passiometer” was now registering passion within me as a Geiger counter recognizes radiation.

God in His goodness allowed me to see that I was missing such an important attribute that He wants growing in me. He desires me to become more and more passionate for Him.  He gave me a plan and the determination to pursue it so He could bless me by answering it.  He will do the same for you.

Psalm 42:5 Why are you downcast, O my soul?  Why so disturbed within me?  Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and ⁶ my God.

Have you noticed that difficult situations can have a strong impact upon us particularly if they drag on and on?  (Even more difficult has been the past two years with the coronavirus where our world has never experienced anything like it.)  Difficult situations can wear us down.   Consider being in a boat without power at sea that is drifting with the current towards a reef.  The sound of the waves pounding the reef are harbingers of the doom that is about to smash our boat and us to smithereens.  It’s just a matter of time…

Think of being overcome with distress and ‘downcast’ as the boat drifts nearer the reef. But then an unseen voice cries out to us, “You are in a sailboat!” We respond, “So?”  The voice speaks again, “Put up your sail!”  (Let’s assume we are really dense)  To which we reply, “What will that do?”

The voice answers, “The wind is blowing away from the reef – and it is stronger than the current!”  We obey the voice and put up the sail – and as we do, the wind catches it and moves us away.  The reef and pounding waves are still there but we are not at their mercy.

At this point, instead of thinking this is a dumb illustration, consider how often we succumb emotionally and spiritually to the stresses in our lives instead of looking to Christ.  Through our hope and trust in Him, He provides the ‘sail’ and the ‘wind’ to take us to spiritual peace and security; He frees us from being downcast and overcome with fear.

With our focus on Jesus, let us walk in faith, His wisdom and trust.  We are not at the mercy of our circumstances!  In the midst of whatever we find ourselves in, Jesus is our hope, our joy and our strength.  Let us look to Him.